Welcome back after Summer break!

In the final year of your A-level photography studies the focus is on narrative and visual storytelling. For the coursework we will be exploring the theme of ‘UNION’ and build on your knowledge and understanding of how to combine images and text presented as photo-zines and picture-stories. In your development as a photography student we encourage you to engage with both traditional methods of image-making using your eye and camera, as well as utilising creative potential of new technology and tools such as generative AI.

In the first half of the term everyone will explore a set of group tasks that will act as triggers and creative starting points in the second half where you will be exploring the theme more in-depth as part of your Personal Study unit which will lead you towards your final major outcome making a photobook, or film and writing an essay.

EXPECTATIONS

PUNCTUALITY > Be in lesson on time.
ATTENDANCE > Students who attend all lessons learn more and achieve higher grades.
USE OF MOBILE PHONE > Not allowed, unless permission given by teacher.
TOILET BREAKS > Use breaks in between lessons. It’s teacher’s discretion.
WATER > Make sure you hydrate in breaks, don’t ask to fill up water bottle in class.
FOOD > No food allowed in the classroom.
BEHAVIOUR > Be kind and respect others in class and their point of view.

PLANNER: CHECK LIST

Use this simplified list to check that you are on task. Every item on the list represents at least one piece of work = one blog post. It is your responsibility as an A-level student to make sure that you complete and publish appropriate blog posts each week – you should aim for 2-3 blog posts. We will monitor and provide feedback online in comments provide updates on Go4schools tracking sheets at least once every half-term.

WEEK 1: 3 – 7 Sept (3 days)
1. History & Context: Discuss/ consider meaning of ‘A Sense of Place’.
2. Planning & Recording: Identify subject to explore in-depth.

WEEK 2: 8 – 14 Sept (4 days – Inset Thurs 11 Sept)
1. Planning & Recording: 2 x photoshoots in St Ouen’s Bay
2. Editing & Developing: St Ouen’s photoshoots

WEEK 3: 15 – 21 Sept
1. Editing & Developing: St Ouen’s photoshoots
2. Studio recording: Still-life shoots using heritage objects

WEEK 4: 22 – 28 Sept
1. Developing & Experimenting: Montaging & juxta-position

WEEK 5: 29 Sept – 5 Oct
1. Zine: Narrative & Sequencing

WEEK 6: 6 – 12 Oct
1. Zine: Design & Layout

WEEK 7: 13 – 17 Oct
1. Zine: Presentation & Evaluate

Assessment Objectives & Grade Boundaries

You should provide evidence that fulfils the four Assessment Objectives:

• AO1 Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding
• AO2 Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops
• AO3 Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress
• AO4 Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.

METHODOLOGY: Process of work

• RESEARCH (AO1): Knowledge & understanding of the brief, subject-matter and historical context.
• ANALYSIS (AO1): Artist case-studies for inspiration (min. 2)
• PLANNING (AO2): Write a statement of intent & plan photoshoots
• RECORDING (AO3): Make new images & photoshoots
• EXPLORING (AO2): Multiple photoshoots and site visits to make more images & produce new visual material
• EDITING (AO2): Select and adjust images from photo-shoots in Lightroom
• DEVELOPING (AO1, AO2): Creative engagement with images both digital (Lightroom, Photoshop) and analogue (paper, scissors, glues stick) developing narratives, juxtapositions, collages/ montages, ‘joiners’/ panoramics/ grids etc.
• DESIGNING (AO2): Create layout of images, text and other material (archives, maps, diagrams) in InDesign and/or as paper mock-ups.
• PRESENTING (AO4): Final zine bound and selection of final images mounted/ framed.
• Evaluate (AO1, AO4): Project, inspirations, development and final outcomes.

Project Brief

St Ouen’s Bay – A Sense of Place
6 weeks programme of study

OUTCOMES: Photo-zine & final prints

Develop a new zine around concept of A Sense of Place exploring a specific area of interest in relation to St Ouen’s Bay. The zine can be narrative based, visually abstract, or more conceptual using a combination of different elements, such as autobiography, self-portraiture, staged images and performance by engaging your body in the landscape.

NARRATIVE: INSPIRATIONS / IDEAS / VISUAL STIMULA / ARTISTS CASE STUDIES

NARRATIVE: Explore a subject or theme in-depth (see below) that engages with the St Ouen’s Bay’s area of natural environment, military heritage or social history. Or, reflect on childhood or contemporary memories of going to the beach, surfing or ‘hanging out’ with family and friends that may be autobiographical or fictional (staged).

ABSTRACTION: INSPIRATIONS / IDEAS / VISUAL STIMULA / ARTISTS CASE STUDIES

ABSTRACTION: Visually you could develop a set of images based on imagery that explore abstraction using photographic techniques, such as macro/ close-up photography, blur/ distortion experimenting with slow shutter-speeds/ ICM (intentional camera movement) or deliberate ‘out of focus’ techniques. Other techniques, such as Hockney ‘joiners’, panoramics or any form of photo-collaging/ montaging can be explored both in-camera and in post-production. Typologies of plant studies or found objects on the beach could also be explored – see work by Karl Blossfeldt, Mandy Barker, or Penelope Umbrico.

CONCEPTUAL: INSPIRATIONS / IDEAS / VISUAL STIMULA / ARTISTS CASE STUDIES

CONCEPTUAL: A conceptual approach to image-making means that you have pre-planned or pre-conceived a concept of how you wish to make photographs, rather than responding spontaneously to things around you on a photo-walk. These concepts could be staged images responding to a specific narrative or story you wish to explore. Other performance based artists are engaging their bodies with the physical landscape and documenting these encounters using photography or video. The performances could be self-portraiture or using models to act out a choreographed scene.

PHOTO-SHOOTS: Field-studies

We have planned two visits to St Ouen’s Bay during school hours to make images in response to the brief, but it is paramount that you arrange and at least 1 or 2 more photo-shoots in your own time to develop your project and create more visual material. Always consider appropriate light to your intentions and choose best time in the day for shooting, ie. often the best soft light is early morning/ later afternoon. Overcast, storm clouds and windy condition can also create atmospheric images. If relevant, night or low-light photography is also an option, but a tripod and camera shutter release are necessary for camera handling and exposure control.

Week 1: 3-7 Sept 
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
Complete the following blog posts

Blogpost: History & Context: St Ouen’s Bay
Research history of St Ouen’s Bay and consider meaning of ‘A Sense of Place’ within the context of Jersey National Parks. Also choose a subject-matter that you wish to explore in-depth and with a sense of purpose through photography – see bullet points below.

Write 250-400 words that reflects your knowledge and understanding of the subject-matter you wish to explore in St Ouen’s Bay and also produce a mood-board of images that provides visual stimuli.

THINK, PAIR, SHARE:

What does St Ouen’s Bay mean to you?

In pairs discuss the following questions:

Do you have any personal memories in association with St Ouen’s Bay?

What are the specific features of St Ouen’s Bay in relation to how it looks (landscape) and how islanders use the space (culture)

Does St Ouen’s Bay have a unique identity. If so, what?

Which specific subject-matter do you wish to explore in relation to St Ouen’s Bay?

Thinking time: 30 sec

Discuss in pairs: 1 min

Show Me Boards: Make notes

Cold-calling: Sample students responses

BLOG > Add your answers, thoughts and ideas to the blog post above: History & Context: St Ouen’s Bay.

A Sense of Place: A sense of place refers to the emotional, psychological, and cultural meanings that individuals or communities attach to a particular location. It’s the unique feeling, connection, and understanding people develop for a specific place based on their experiences, memories, and interactions within that environment. This can encompass positive feelings like comfort and belonging or negative ones like unease or alienation. 

Explore more here

SUBJECT-MATTER: Areas to explore
Geology: Rocks, quarries in L’Etacq
History/ archaeology: Dolmens/ peat beds
Mythology/ folklore: St Ouen’s myths & legends; The Black Horse de Carteret (History Islands, Paul Darroch), the submerged forest, the lost manor of Le Brequette, the three ships.
Jerriais language: Le Maistre family of St Ouen
Industries: Fisheries / farming (potatoes)/ vraicing (collecting seaweed), knitting – fishermen’s jerseys, known as ‘grey bellies’ in St Ouen from the use of undyed wool
Occupation: Bunkers/ fortifications/ slave labour camps/ construction of seawall
Nature: Jersey National Park, St Ouen’s Pond/ wildlife/ biodiversity/ bird watching
Sand dunes: Landfill/ dump/ natural reserve/ recreation
Tourism/ leisure/ recreation: Surfing/ swimming/ beach life/ eateries/ night club/ dog walking

RESOURCES:

“Our tiny Island has an enormous amount to offer those willing to go out and find it, and what better way than accompanied by a guide who can open the doors of history, folklore, myth and magic while helping you to keep fit and active.” – Jersey Uncovered

The Jersey National Park aims to protect, conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage within its 2,145 designated hectares so that it can be appreciated and enjoyed by all who spend time in it, now and in the future.

For inspiration, lets watch a short promo video here by JNP

https://player.vimeo.com/external/484468395.hd.mp4?s=5d6346f81e540cc1fe7e554c00084b904ed3358b&profile_id=174

The Story of Jersey National Park

4th October 2009 – a line was drawn. On this date 7,000 islanders of all ages and abilities came together in a peaceful protest organised by the National Trust for Jersey.

At the time, there were major development projects proposed that posed a huge threat to sensitive coastal areas such as the Plémont headland. There was widespread concern among islanders that the approval of an inappropriate development at Portelet Bay would set a precedent and open the floodgates for other similar projects. Something had to be done, and fast!

Islanders stood shoulder to shoulder and formed a human chain from Le Braye to just short of L’Etacq to make a statement that it was time to draw a line under the steady increase in inappropriate coastal developments in Jersey. The people called for protection of our precious coastline. And the environment minister listened!

Two years later, the Jersey National Park was officially endorsed by the States of Jersey. The National Park now covers 2,145 hectares – 16% of the Island’s land mass – and any development within it is strictly regulated by the planning department.

Why have a National Park?

The JNP was created by the people, for the people. National Parks are spaces that human kind deem precious and worth protecting.

People work, play and live within the boundaries of the park. The key objective, whilst safeguarding all that warrants it, is to encourage people; tourists and, just as importantly, locals to visit and enjoy all the diverse possibilities it has to offer.

images

From its natural flora and fauna to rare species of wildlife, unique beauty spots and sites of special interest, visitors to the park can immerse themselves and learn about Jersey’s heritage, culture and a natural environment that constantly changes with the seasons.

Great environmental management is undertaken within the park, not least by the National Trust for Jersey. A sea bird protection zone runs from Plemont Headland to Le Douet de la Mer to help prevent further decline of rare Atlantic Puffins.

Manx Loagthan sheep are now seen grazing the land on the north coast near Sorel Point where, by maintaining a short grass sward, biodiversity can be ensured for the future. Thanks to the sheeps’ caretaking abilities the Red Billed Chough, which was once extinct in Jersey, has now been reintroduced and is once again flourishing in the wild.

The park is specifically and directly recognised as an integral part of the Island Plan and therefore paramount in ensuring and adhering to strict guidelines in all planning applications within the park’s boundaries.

With an ever increasing population, the changes to our coast and countryside might be deemed as inevitable. However, providing that the ethos of the JNP remains both politically and publicly supported, the future potential for the park – and all its various inhabitants – can be assured.

Explore

Tread, marvel, observe. Enrich your senses and feed your soul!

The park provides a haven, a sanctuary, a play park, an open space and a beautiful stage set in which to relish moments of quiet contemplation, family time, adventure, curiosity, relaxation or affinity with nature.

The park is steeped in history and its stories await discovery by inquisitive minds. The existence of several protected Sites of Special Interest (SSI’s) confirm its many ecological, architectural and cultural credentials. History is also in strong evidence through a profusion of coastal Napoleonic towers and impressive fortifications from the years of Occupation during World War II.

The park has woodland trails, cliff paths, gorse and heather headlands and scores of beaches waiting to be discovered by the intrepid explorer. For the keen hiker, the north coast offers some of the most stunning scenery and colours that rival any National Park. Waterfalls, caves and rockpools delight and provide hours of entertainment for friends and families, year round.

The park has its own offshore reefs that extend and shrink with the movement of some of the biggest tidal ranges in the world. As the tide drops, sand banks and crystal clear lagoons emerge, before disappearing again as the turning tide pours through and fills them up again. Bottlenosed dolphins, grey seals, oystercatchers and terns are just some of the wildlife that you might be lucky enough to encounter if you’re adventurous enough to take to the seas (it’s worth it, we promise). Book your RIB experience with Jersey Seafaris.

The park has an abundance of cafés, pubs, restaurants, hotels and heritage sites, each one waiting to be enjoyed and experienced whether you’re on holiday or celebrating, partying or simply hosting a family get-together. From bacon rolls at the Hungry Man in the pretty harbour of Rozel to fresh seafood cooked before you on the outdoor barbecue at Faulkner Fisheries, there’s so much to enjoy. There’s even the opportunity to forage for edible hedgerow and seashore plants – a wow at a dinner party, the park has it all.

Much of the park’s wildlife reflects on its diversity of landscape habitat. All of the four major woodland valleys are home to red squirrels while resident green lizards and wall lizards inhabit many of the north, west and eastern coastal areas. Many of the bird species found in the UK are quite common throughout the park, although a small woodland bird known as the short-toed treecreeper is not present anywhere in the British Isles.

Between October and March each year, hundreds of wading birds congregate along the shoreline with Brent geese being in particularly good numbers. Little egrets, normally from Africa and the Mediterranean, frequent much of the park’s rocky shoreline. For the keen birdwatcher, the National Trust Wetland Centre in the heart of St Ouen’s Bay is a ‘must visit’.

Nature’s play park

Water, land and sky. Connect with nature and your mind, body and soul!

Granite rocks, sand dunes, grasslands, cliff paths, harbours, castles and coves play host to a smorgasbord of outdoor activities. Whether you’re looking for an adrenalin fix like kite surfing, abseiling or coasteering, or something more grounding like free diving, hiking or beach yoga, the park gives you the space to get your heart racing or just to breathe; in the water, on the land or in the sky. Then relax and refuel in one of the many watering holes.

Walk in the park

There’s no better way to explore the Jersey National Park than on foot. With over 50 miles of paths stretching through more than 30 miles of coastline, the Park offers endless opportunities to slow down, get outside, and experience the Island in a meaningful way.

From wild headlands to quiet woodlands, rural scenes to wetlands, these landscapes are open to all — and every walk reveals something new. Whether you’re after a short stroll, a scenic viewpoint, or a hidden trial, there’s always more to discover.

Each May, our annual Walk in the Park series offers a programme of guided walks led by artists, conservationists, historians and more — but the invitation to explore is open all year round.

As you walk, please take care. Much of the land is privately owned or carefully managed. Stick to marked paths, follow signs, and help protect the places that make Jersey so special.

Self-Guided Walks

Discover our best nature walks using our interactive map.

Walk the entire length of Jersey’s Atlantic coast, or choose from a variety of circular walks. Take your time in the beauty of natural surroundings, wander the secluded trails and discover the various sites along the way.

Choose from one of our 14 routes on the map below.

In May 2025 to coincide with 80 years of Liberation, Jersey National Parks organised 20 themed walks led by experts for islanders to be inspired by the natural beauty and landscapes shaped by time and tide. Watch short promo below and browse their catalogue here published in the JEP.

https://fb.watch/AIJ8CCA0Ja

History & Reflection – Walking through the past to understand the present and future.

Movement & Exploration – Embrace the freedom to move, explore and discover new perspectives.

Wellbeing & Connection – Experience nature as a place to restore, recharge, and reconnect with what matters.

Expression & Creativity – See the world differently through art, story and imagination.

See the full programme for guided walks in May by clicking here

Read about islanders experiences here on their blog of exploring Jersey’s National Park and views about preserving the islands unique landscape

Jersey Island Geopark – A Symphony of Creation

In the mists of time, fire and ice collided to shape Jersey. A volcanic eruption gave birth to its bedrock, while crashing waves and glacial forces tore it from the mainland, casting it adrift into the Atlantic. Today, Jersey is more than an Island—it’s a fragment of Earth’s most dramatic history. It’s a place of primeval mountains, deep seas, volcanic islands and granite magma. Its rugged cliffs, sweeping beaches, and ancient granite tell tales of survival and transformation, inviting you to walk through time and tide. Jersey is proud to be applying for official UNESCO Geopark status. Start your journey and uncover the ancient forces that shaped our Island. Explore more here

Geosites

Geosites are places in the Island with a special story from our Island’s heritage. To discover Jersey’s Geosites, explore the map of the aspiring Jersey Island Geopark. Click on the frame on top right-hand corner of the map to view the larger map and explore the different Geosites.

On the large map, the legend along the left-hand side is the list of different categories. Each category is a list of places, all with stories to discover. Select which places you would like to view on the map, by clicking the box on the left-hand side of the category in the map legend.

Use the arrow underneath the tick box to see all of the places in the category. To collapse the legend, click on the three dots next to the magnify glass symbol and select ‘Collapse map legend’. To view the map legend again, click on the ‘MAP LEGEND’ in the white box in the top left-hand corner.

To find out more about these places of interest and how to get there, click on the place name on the legend.

Island Sounds

As an Island shaped by time and tide, Jersey has a unique playlist. The music playing here is made up of sounds recorded around the Island. Listen. Êcoutez. What can you hear? Can you pick out all the different sounds?

Listen to soundscape based on Jersey unique geology produced by Sam Hills, sound designer and former alumni of Hautlieu.

Jersey Tidal Trail

Discover the Jersey Tidal Trail, a spectacular coastal route shaped by some of Europe’s biggest tides.

Stretching over 48 miles around the Island, explore breathtaking cliffs, sweeping bays and centuries of history shaped by time and tide.

Experience the untamed, ever-changing beauty of Jersey’s coastline on this bucket-list Island adventure and visit geosites along the way.

Take on the trail – your way.

Geotrail

Rock your half term with a self-guided geotrail adventure! From rugged cliffs, sweeping beaches and ancient granite, there’s a whole world to discover – perfect for curious minds of all ages.

Self-guided geotrail

Discover the geodiversity of Jersey – our different rocks, minerals, soils and landforms like our headlands, caves, stacks, islets, wave-cut platforms, valleys, streams, ponds and cliffs.

If you’re looking for a fun and educational half-term adventure then look no further.

How to take part

Step 1) Using the clues, work out ten locations around the Island. We recommend using a map to help solve the clues.

Step 2) At each location, try answering the questions by looking for clues in the landscape. There may be signs, commemorative plaques or you can always find out more online (see top tips).

Step 3) Fill in form below with your answers.

Step 4) Check your answers here.

Step 5) You can share your experience of the geotrail by sending in photos of you exploring Jersey to info@jerseyislandgeopark.org.je

Top tips

Always follow the Jersey countryside code – Respect, Protect and Enjoy.

Plan your route before you set out, especially if you try to explore everywhere in one day. Most places are directly along a bus or cycle route apart from:

• Place 4 >> closest bus stop is number 2379: The Poplars and cycle route 1.
• Place 10 >> closest bus stop is number 2738: Grosnez House and cycle route 1b.

Try using the Jersey Historic Environment Record (HER) – a searchable map of the historic features across the Island.

Find out more at the FREE aspiring Jersey Island Geopark Visitor Centre located at Jersey Museum, St Helier.

Climbing

Take yourself to new heights and challenge yourself. With one of the largest tidal ranges in the world, Jersey offers the perfect natural playground to practice climbing and coasteering.

Discover a whole new landscape uncovered as the tide rises and falls every 12 hours. More information on climbing and coasteering opportunities can be found at these providers of outdoor and and adventurous activities:

Jersey Adventures

Wild Adventures

Absolute Adventures 

Surfing

Head over to the west coast of the aspiring Jersey Island Geopark to watch the waves at St Ouen’s Bay. Well known across the Island as a surfer’s paradise, take in this idyllic Bay from the sea waiting to catch your next wave.

More information about surfing in the aspiring Geopark can be found by clicking on the links below:

Jersey Surf School – Jersey’s longest running surf school.

The Surfyard – Surf school and shop located right in the middle of one of the finest bays in Northern Europe, and at the heart of Jersey’s surf culture.

Diving

Escape to another word and experience what Island life is like underwater.

Dive into exploring Jersey’s surrounding waters by visiting:

Bouley Bay Dive Centre – situated on the North Coast in Bouley Bay is Jersey’s longest established dive centre offering a full range of dive courses, equipment sales, rentals and servicing.

Explore more here about our island

Week 2: 8-14 Sept 
PLANNING & RECORDING
Complete the following blog posts

BLOG > complete and publish:

1. History & Context: St Ouen’s Bay and ‘A Sense of Place’.
2. Planning & Recording: Identify subject-matter to explore in-depth.

Find inspiration and artists references here:

NARRATIVE: INSPIRATIONS / IDEAS / VISUAL STIMULA / ARTISTS CASE STUDIES

NARRATIVE: Explore a subject or theme in-depth (see below) that engages with the St Ouen’s Bay’s area of natural environment, military heritage or social history. Or, reflect on childhood or contemporary memories of going to the beach, surfing or ‘hanging out’ with family and friends that may be autobiographical or fictional (staged).

ABSTRACTION: INSPIRATIONS / IDEAS / VISUAL STIMULA / ARTISTS CASE STUDIES

ABSTRACTION: Visually you could develop a set of images based on imagery that explore abstraction using photographic techniques, such as macro/ close-up photography, blur/ distortion experimenting with slow shutter-speeds/ ICM (intentional camera movement) or deliberate ‘out of focus’ techniques. Other techniques, such as Hockney ‘joiners’, panoramics or any form of photo-collaging/ montaging can be explored both in-camera and in post-production. Typologies of plant studies or found objects on the beach could also be explored – see work by Karl Blossfeldt, Mandy Barker, or Penelope Umbrico.

CONCEPTUAL: INSPIRATIONS / IDEAS / VISUAL STIMULA / ARTISTS CASE STUDIES

CONCEPTUAL: A conceptual approach to image-making means that you have pre-planned or pre-conceived a concept of how you wish to make photographs, rather than responding spontaneously to things around you on a photo-walk. These concepts could be staged images responding to a specific narrative or story you wish to explore. Other performance based artists are engaging their bodies with the physical landscape and documenting these encounters using photography or video. The performances could be self-portraiture or using models to act out a choreographed scene.

SUBJECT-MATTER: Areas to explore

Geology: Rocks, quarries in L’Etacq
History/ archaeology: Dolmens/ peat beds
Mythology/ folklore: St Ouen’s myths & legends; The Black Horse de Carteret (History Islands, Paul Darroch), the submerged forest, the lost manor of Le Brequette, the three ships.
Jerriais language: Le Maistre family of St Ouen
Industries: Fisheries / farming (potatoes)/ vraicing (collecting seaweed), knitting – fishermen’s jerseys, known as ‘grey bellies’ in St Ouen from the use of undyed wool
Occupation: Bunkers/ fortifications/ slave labour camps/ construction of seawall
Nature: Jersey National Park, St Ouen’s Pond/ wildlife/ biodiversity/ bird watching
Sand dunes: Landfill/ dump/ natural reserve/ recreation
Tourism/ leisure/ recreation: Surfing/ swimming/ beach life/ eateries/ night club/ dog walking

Tue 9 Sept: First school trip
08:45: Meet at Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive, 7 Pier Road, St Helier
09:00-09:30: Activity 1 – Introduction by Rochelle Merhet and Max Le Feuvre, including showing images of St Ouen’s Bay from archive collections
09:30-10:30: Activity 2 – Narrative & sequencing: Re-configure Atlantus newspaper (images of Jersey’s west coast vs New Jersey’s east coast)
10:30-11:00: Break
11:00 Bus from Weighbridge to Corbiere Lighthouse
11:30-13:00: Explore area and German bunker visit with George Blake from CIOS.
13:00-13:30: Lunch
13:30-15:00 Walk to Le Braye, incl exploring Sand dunes/ slave camps/ sea wall/ St Ouen’s Bay
15:20: Bus pick-up from Le Braye

Wed 10 Sept: Second school trip
08:45: Meet at Maritime Museum, St Helier Harbour
09:00-10:30: Introduction & talk by curator Lucy Layton
10:30-11:00: Break
11: 00 Bus from Weighbridge to Francis Le Seur Centre
11:30-13:00: Photo-walk & talk by Mike Stentiford, Jersey National Park > St Ouen’s Pond/ nature/ wildlife.
13:00-13:30: Lunch
13:30-15:00 Walk to Watersplash > workshop with JEP photographers Dave Ferguson and Robbie Dark exploring, surfing/ ocean culture, RLNI Lifeguards and beach life.

Blogpost: St Ouen’s photoshoots
Upload new images from St Ouen’s Bay to M:drive and begin editing in Lightroom.

Follow these instructions:

EDITING:

• Save shoots in folder on M:drive and import into Lightroom
• Organisation: Create new Collection Set: St Ouen’s Bay
  Create a new Collection from new shoot inside Collection Set: Photoshoot 1, Photoshoot 2 etc.
• Editing: select 15-20 images from each shoot.
• Experimenting: Adjust images in Develop mode, both as Colour and B&W images appropriate to your intentions.
• Further image experimentation could be: selective colour, motion blur, superimposition and layering of images using both Lightroom and Photoshop – see experimentation below.
• Make sure you have standardised all the pictures in terms of exposure, brightness/ contrast, colour balance using Sync Settings
• Export images as JPGS (1000 pixels) and save in a folder: BLOG

BLOGPOST

• Create a Blogpost with your image sub-selections and edited set of images.
• Annotate image selection and editing process using a combination of screen grabs and your own writing.
• At the end write a short evaluation; explaining what you focused was and how you intend to develop your next photoshoot – see more guidelines below

EVALUATING: Upon completion of editing photoshoot and further experimentation with images, make sure you evaluate and reflect on your next step of development. Comment on the following:

• How successful was your photoshoot and experimentation?
• Did you realise your intentions?
• What references did you make to artists references? – comment on technical, visual, contextual, conceptual?
• How are you going to develop your project from here? – comment on research, planning, recording, experimenting.
• What are you going to do next? – what, why, how, when, where?

INDEPENDENT STUDY: HOMEWORK TASK
To develop a strong body of work and set of cohesive images with a sense of purpose and direction, plan your own photoshoot (at least 1) in relation to your subject-matter and return to St Ouen’s Bay, or other relevant site/ location and produce new photographs.

For example, you could explore L’Etacq and its unique geology of rocks, known as Sites of Special Interests (SSIS), such as Le Pulec (Stinky Bay), Le Grand Etacquerel and Le Petit Etacqueral. Or explore Jersey Pearl and the Military Museum opposite, potato farming & fields, Faulkner’s Fisheries (German bunker),

DEADLINE: 22 Sept – must have uploaded new images

Week 3: 16-22 Sept 
EDITING & DEVELOPING
Complete the following blog posts

ST OUEN’S BAY PHOTO-SHOOTS: Continue to edit images from St Ouen’s Bay and produce blogpost with selection and editing of images.

STUDIO PHOTO-SHOOT: STILL-LIFE
This week we want you to produce at least one photoshoot in the studio experimenting with objects on loan from Jersey Heritage. There are two sets of boxes with objects from the Occupation and Agriculture. Choose objects that relates to the subject that you are exploring and be creative in arranging different still-life compositions. These images will help you refresh your skills using studio lighting and provide you with new images needed for further experimentation in creating photo-montages.

In the studio, follow these guidelines below:

1. LIGHTING: Experiment with different lighting set-ups, both continuous lighting (tungsten) and flash lights. Be creative and use special still-life table and its translucent backdrop.

2. RECORDING: Explore different angles, both from above, side and front.

3. EDITING: Upload and process images from photo-shoot using Lightroom and make a rough edit of 8-10 images 

WEEK 4: 22 – 28 Sept
DEVELOPING & EXPERIMENTING
Montages and juxtaposition

EXPERIMENTATION 1: MONTAGING & LAYERING
Creatively engage with old photographs from the Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive (SJPA) and produce both analogue and digital photo-montages where you are combining your images with elements from archive or found material, including images, texts, maps, diagrams etc. Some of these montages could also include creating panoramics, ‘joiners’ and images in grids or as contact sheets.

Create a set of at least 3 variations of photo-montages using your images from St Ouen’s Bay and objects from the studio and combine with cut out figures or shapes from Occupation archives from SJPA.

For inspiration Look at the images and photobook; The First March of Gentlemen by Polish photographer, Rafal Milach. This body of work is a fictitious narration composed of authentic stories. Historical events related to the town of Września in Poland came to be the starting point for reflection on the protest and disciplinary mechanisms experienced under Communist rule. In the series of collages, the reality of the 1950s Poland ruled by the communists blends with the memory of the Września children strike from the beginning of the 20th century. This shift in time is not just a coincidence, as the problems which the project touches upon are universal, and may be seen as a metaphor for the contemporary social tensions and politics currently playing out in Poland . The project includes archive photos by Września photographer Ryszard Szczepaniak > Read more here

https://vimeo.com/231261685

EXPERIMENTATION 2: JUXTA-POSITION & PAIRING
Print out a set of 10-12 images and experiment with pairing images together to form a narrative and story, both in terms of sequencing images and juxtapositions. Either photograph these pairings on the table and/or recreate in InDesign. Alternatively, produce a paper mock-up version of a zine with your sequence of images across the pages. Make sure you show evidence on the blog with juxtapositions and pairing images.

RESOURCES – STILL-LIFE / OBJECT PHOTOGRAPHY

EXTENSION – ARTISTS INSPIRATIONS: Complete at least one artist case-study on a photographer exploring still life and using objects in their work. What symbolic meaning can we attribute to images of food and everyday objects – consider social, economical and cultural references?

Read and study this article with examples of contemporary interpretations of still life photography

Week 5: 22-28 Sept 
ZINE: NARRATIVE & SEQUENCING
Complete the following blog posts

OUTCOME: Produce a 16-24 page photo-zine in InDesign based around images from St Ouen’s Bay. Consider creating alternative zine design in different size, format and binding methods.

Explore more alternative zine designs, structures and bindings here

NARRATIVE & STORY

NARRATIVE is essentially the way a story is told. For example you can tell different narratives of the same story. It is a very subjective process and there is no right or wrong. Whether or not your photographic story is any good is another matter.

Narrative is constructed when you begin to create relationships between images (and/or text) and present more than two images together. Your selection of images (editing) and the order of how these images appear on the pages (sequencing) contributes significantly to the construction of the narrative. So too, does the structure and design of the photo-zine. However, it is essential that you identity what your story is first before considering how you wish to tell it.

In order for you to understand better how narrative works in photography let’s consider the differences between narrative and story when making a photo-zine. For a more in-depth understanding of NARRATIVE and PHOTOGRAPHY go to blog post below.

https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo21al/2020/09/13/narrative-and-photography

Once you have considered the points made between the differences in narrative and story and thought about what story you want to tell about St Ouen’s Bay and the images that that you have made in response, consider the following:

STORY: What is your story?
Describe in:

• 3 words
• A sentence
• A paragraph

NARRATIVE: How will you tell your story?

• Images > New photographs from St Ouen’s Bay
• Archives > Old photographs of subjects relating to St Ouen from SJ photo-archive or JEP Photographic Archive
• Typography > creative uses of words, letters, font-types, sizes
• Texts > Write a short introduction or statement about your picture story, image captions
• Image captions > consider adding context to your images

Add a selection of your final 12-20 images as a mood-board/ gallery to the blog post, including any archive material too.

In the folder below you will find archive images from the photo-archive at the Societe Jersiaise and other found images from the internet.

M:\Radio\Departments\Photography\Students\YR 13 COURSEWORK 2025-2026\ST OUEN’S BAY

EDITING & SEQUENCING

EDITING: You may have to revisit your selected images that you used in producing page-spreads. For the zine-design you need a set of 12-20 images that are edited and standardised as either colour or B&W images, or a combination of the both. You may want to consider your final selection with reference to how individual pictures relate and tell a story according to the construction of a traditional picture-story.

SEQUENCING: Print your final set of 12-20 images as small work prints using print Microsoft wizard (4 images per page, 9x13cm). Cut images using guillotine and layout on table and begin to sequence them to construct a narrative. Produce a 16-24 page zine mock-up and past images into using masking tape. Consider the following:

• Think about your theme or story.
  Think about start, middle and end images.
• Which images are major (establishing shots, full page, double page), and minor (portrait, detail shots, small images, multiple images on the page etc.)
• Think about visual relationship between images and their juxtaposition e.g colour, shapes, subject, repetition, landscape, portrait, objects, details etc.
• What happens or changes over the series of images?
• Are you using your best images?
• Include archival images/ found images of St Helier Harbour – if appropriate.

Week 6: 6 – 12 Oct 
ZINE: DESIGN & LAYOUT
Complete the following blog posts

Consider exploring different ways you can bind your zine and alternate size and format too, anything from A6, A5, A4 and A3

See this blog post below for alternative zine designs, structures and binding methods.

Zine Lab 2: Alternative designs | 2020 Photography Blog

Choose between:
1. Beak Structure
2. Accordion Structure
3. Spring Structure
4. Single Section Zine
5. Fold Out Zine
6. Zine in a Zine
7. Multi section Zine
8. Dos a Dos Zine
9. Flag book Zine
10. Fishbone Zine

Alternatively explore Japanese stab binding where the stitching itself becomes part of the overall aesthetic and zine design.

Learn how to do it following these instructions here or watch the video below. Instructions will also be given in class.

RESEARCH > ANALYSIS

Research zines and newspaper design made by artists and photographer that will provide visual stimulus for your page design. Produce a mood board and consider the following in your analysis:

• How you want your design to look and feel
• Format, size and orientation
• Narrative and visual concept
• Design and layout
• Rhythm and sequencing
• Images and text
• Title and captions

RESOURCES – ZINES

Something to read: Something Tactile: Why Photographers Should Create Zines

Café Royal Books is a small independent publisher of photography photobooks or zines, and sometimes drawing, solely run by Craig Atkinson and based in Southport, England. Café Royal Books produces small-run publications predominantly documenting social, historical and architectural change, often in Britain, using both new work and photographs from archives. It has been operating since 2005 and by mid 2014 had published about 200 books and zines and they are held in major public collections

https://www.caferoyalbooks.com/

Editions Bessard is a paris-based independent publishing house created by pierre bessard in 2011. Focusing on working with artists, writers and curators to realise intellectually challenging projects in book form.

The new imprint Éditions Emile is named in honour of Emile F. Guiton, the founding father of the The Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive. The first set of publications is a series of small photo-zines comprising of 48 pages with an average of 30-40 images and a short text providing further context. With plans to publish three editions annually, each issue of ED.EM. will take a fresh look at a specific collection within the archive, by pairing it with either another collection or contemporary work, in order to re-contextualise the images, keeping the collections active and relevant for new audiences both in the island and beyond.

DESIGN > LAYOUT

Saddle-stich zine set-up

InDesign: Set-up for Single Section Zine
Create new document
width: 148mm
height: 210
pages: 16 / 24
orientation: portrait
columns: 2
column gutter: 5mm
margins: top, bottom, inside, outside: 10mm
bleed: top, bottom, inside, outside: 3mm

DEVELOPING > Show variation of design

• Create 2-3 examples of alternative layouts for your photo-zine using Adobe InDesign and complete a visual blog post that clearly shows your decision making and design process using screen-prints and annotation.

See examples of previous students blog charting his zine design process, here.

https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo20al/wp-admin/post.php?post=31481&action=edit

Week 7: 13-17 Oct 
PRINTING & EVALUATING
Complete the following blog posts

PRESENTATION > EVALUATION

Print, fold and bind final photo-zine and hand in for assessment.

Write an overall final evaluation (250-300 words) that explain in some detail how successfully you developed your project in response to themes of EXPLORE, SEEK OR CHALLENGE with specific focus on constructing a narrative presented as a photo-zine. Consider the following:

• Did you realise your intentions?
• How did you develop a narrative?
• Zine; including any contextual/ artists references, links and inspiration between your final design and theme.

FINAL OUTCOME: ZINE
Deadline: Fri 17 Oct

EXTENSION:
Select images for printing and/ or create a virtual gallery

PREPARE AND SAVE IMAGES FOR PRINTING:

File Handling and printing...

• Remember when EXPORTING from Lightroom you must adjust the file size to 1000 pixels on the Short edge for “blog-friendly” images (JPEGS)
• BUT…for editing and printing when EXPORTING from Lightroom you must adjust the file size to Short edge for “high resolution” images (JPEGS) like this…

• A5 Short Edge = 14.8 cm
• A4 Short Edge = 21.0 cm
• A3 Short Edge =29.7 cm

This will ensure you have the correct ASPECT RATIO

Ensure you label and save your file in you M :Drive and then copy across to the PRINT FOLDER / IMAGE TRANSFER

M:\Radio\Departments\Photography\Students\Image Transfer\Y13 St Ouen prints

For a combination of images, or square format images you use the ADOBE PHOTOSHOP > NEW DOCUMENT + PRINT PRESETS on to help arrange images on the correct size page (A3, A4, A5)

You can do this using Photoshop, Set up the page sizes as templates and import images into each template, then you can see for themselves how well they fit… but remember to add an extra 6mm for bleed (3mm on each side of the page) to the original templates. i.e. A4 = 297mm x 210 but the template size for this would be 303mm x 216mm.

Making a Virtual Gallery in Photoshop

Download an empty gallery file…then insert your images and palce them on the walls. Adjust the persepctive, size and shape using CTRL T (free transform) You can also add things like a drop shadow to make the image look more realistic…

Here is access to a folder with images you can use freely:

M:\Radio\Departments\Photography\Students\YR 13 OBSERVE, SEEK, CHALLENGE 2024-2025\Gallery Mock-ups

…or using online software

How I did it:

Step 1: Go to www.artsteps.com

Step 2: Sign in / up.

Step 3: Create.

Step 4: Create your own location or choose a template.

Step 5: Upload your images, put them in your exhibition, name it and give it a description.

Step 6: Present / view your Exhibition.

Mon -Tue > Essay: Origin of Photography
Follow instructions in blog post below.
Deadline: Mon 30 Sept

The Origin of Photography | 2025 Photography A Level Blog (hautlieucreative.co.uk)

• Analyse a couple of your best shots and describe the Decisive Moment within the images
• Select one image and compare with an image from Henri Cartier-Bresson in relation to the theory of the Decisive Moment

4. EXPERIMENTING: Show experimentation with different adjustments/ techniques/ processes in Lightroom/ Photoshop appropriate to intentions. Produce at least 3 different variations of the same still-life with 3 different images.

5. EVALUATE: Photo-shoot and experiments. Select at least 2 key images and analyse in depth using this methodology: TECHNICAL > VISUAL > CONTEXTUAL > CONCEPTUAL. Compare with examples of artists references where appropriate.

---

The Theme: ‘ ’UNION’

Further resources can be found here in our shared folder on the M:drive M:\Radio\Departments\Photography\Students\Yr 13 EXAM 2025

Definition in dictionary:

UNION
noun: union; plural noun: unions; noun: the Union

1. the action of joining together or the fact of being joined together, especially in a political context.“he was opposed to closer political or economic union with Europe”
   Similar: unification uniting joining merging merger fusion fusing
   

• HISTORICAL the uniting of the English and Scottish crowns in 1603, of the English and Scottish parliaments in 1707, or of the parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801.
  singular proper noun: Union
  
• a state of harmony or agreement.
  “they live in perfect union”
  Similar: unity accord unison unanimity harmony concord agreement concurrence undividedness
  
• a marriage.
  “their union had not been blessed with children”
  Similar: marriage wedding partnership pairing alliance match
  
  2. a society or association formed by people with a common interest or purpose. “members of the Students’ Union”
  Similar: association alliance league guild coalition consortium combine syndicate confederation federation confederacy partnership fraternity brotherhood sorority society club group organization trade union
  
• a trade union. “the National Farmers’ Union”
• HISTORICAL a number of parishes consolidated for the purposes of administering the Poor Laws.
• BRITISH an association of independent Churches, especially Congregational or Baptist, for purposes of cooperation.
  
  3. a political unit consisting of a number of states or provinces with the same central government.
• the United States, especially from its founding by the original thirteen states in 1787–90 to the secession of the Confederate states in 1860–1.
• “California is the fastest growing state in the Union when it comes to urban encroachment”
  The northern states of the United States which opposed the seceding Confederate states in the American Civil War.
  singular proper noun: Federal Union; singular proper noun: the Federal Union
• South Africa, especially before it became a republic in 1961.

BINARY OPPOSITION

Binary opposition – a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning.

Binary opposition originated in Saussurean structuralist theory in Linquistics (scientific study of language) According to Ferdinand de Saussure, binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another. Using binary opposites can often be very helpful in generating ideas for a photographic project as it provides a framework – a set of boundaries to work within.

How to start

1. Read the Exam Paper and Exam Planner thoroughly, especially pages pages 4-5 and page 24-27 which details specific starting points and approaches to the exam theme – make notes! Look up the word in the dictionary, synonyms and etymology (the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history.)
2. Brainstorm your idea and research artists listed – look also at starting points in other disciplines e.g. Fine Art and Graphic Communication etc.
3. Begin to gather information, collect images, make a mood-board and mind-map,
4. Make plans for photoshoots and write a specification.
5. Produce at least ONE PHOTO-SHOOT over H-Term as a response to tasks listed below and initial research and ideas.
6. You must show evidence of the above on your blog– complete at least 4-5 blog posts.

Each week you are required to make a photographic response (still-images and/or moving image) that relates to the research and work that you explored in that week. Sustained investigations means taking a lot of time and effort to produce the best you can possibly do – reviewing, modifying and refining your idea and taking more pictures to build up a strong body of work with a clear sense of purpose and direction

Preparatory Supporting Studies (Blog posts) – 7 weeks of lessons + 2 weeks Easter Break:

Prior to the timed examination you must produce and submit preparatory supporting studies which show why and how the supervised and timed work takes the form it does. You must produce a number of blog posts 15-30 that charts the development of your final piece from conception to completion and must show evidence of:

• Development of your thoughts, decisions, research and ideas based on the theme
• Record your experiences and observations
• Analysis and interpretation of things seen, imagined or remembered
• Investigations showing engagement with appropriate primary and secondary sources
• Experimentation with materials, processes and techniques
• Select, evaluate and develop images/ media further through sustained investigation
• Show connections between your work and that of other artists/ photographers
• Critical review and reflection

Controlled Exam 15 hrs over three days: (Final Outcome)

This time is for you to fine tune and adjust your final images for print using creative tools in Lightroom/Photoshop and/or complete a final edit of your photobook, film or video in Premiere. Your final outcome(s) must be presented in a thoughtful, careful and professional manner demonstrating skills in presenting work in either window mounts, picture frames, foam-board, and/ or submit pdf of photobook, or embed (from Youtube upload) moving image and video based production to the blog.

IDEAS > INTERPRETATIONS > ARTIST EXAMPLES
from pages 4 & 5 in exam booklet

Art movements and isms.
Start by exploring some of the avant-garde art movements in the early 20th century, such as CUBISM, FAUVISM, DADAISM, DE STIJL, RUSSIAN CONSTRUCTIVISM, SUPREMATISM, FUTURISM, SURREALISM, EXPRESSIONISM.

Choose one movements and produce a comprehensive blog post where you consider the following:

1. RESEARCH > artists associated with the art movement and produce a moodboard of examples of different art works

2. ANALYSIS > Write a couple of paragraphs where you describe what ‘united’ them?
– IDEOLOGY / MEANING > artistic, political, cultural, conceptual
– CONTEXT / LEGACY > what inspired the art movement and who in turn have they inspired?
– AESTHETICS / STYLE > how something looks > visual language > artistic techniques > pictorial surface

3. ARTISTS CASE STUDIES > select at least one artist associated with movement and produce an in-depth review of their work. Choose one key image and analyse using Photography Vocabulary Support: TECHNICAL > VISUAL > CONTEXTUAL > CONCEPTUAL

4. RESPONSE: Plan and produce a new photoshoot in response to chosen art movement / artists case study.

5. MANIFESTO: Most of the art movements above developed a MANIFESTO which set out the aims and objectives of the movement. You could respond to the ‘rules’ of a manifesto by producing photographic images / artistic responses and work towards writing your own manifesto from which new work is developed. In the spirit of the theme of UNION – a small group of students could collaborate and develop an artistic collective and produce a manifesto See previous A-level photography TASK 1: BREAKING THE RULES and TASK 2: MAKE A MANIFESTO

EXAMPLE: Cubism, a groundbreaking art movement birthed in the early 20th century, fundamentally altered the artistic landscape, introducing a novel perspective on representation and perception. Pioneered by luminaries Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, Cubism sought to challenge the singularity of perspective, advocating for a multifaceted view of subjects. Through the deconstruction of objects into basic geometric forms and their subsequent reassembly, Cubism unveiled a new visual lexicon that emphasised the subject’s essence from diverse viewpoints, thereby questioning the traditional, fixed perspective paradigm.

Influential cubist artists:

• Pablo Picasso
• George Braques
• Juan Gris
• Jean Metzinger
• Paul Cézanne
  

CUBISM’S INFLUENCE ON DAVID HOCKNEY’S ‘JOINERS’

In his joiners, Hockney’s engagement with Cubism is clearly evident, reflecting a deliberate integration of fragmentation and multiple perspectives into a cohesive visual experience. This technique allowed him to weave together distinct snapshots into a unified image that challenges and expands the viewer’s perception. By adopting Cubist principles, Hockney’s joiners break the constraints of space, offering a dynamic and enriched representation of scenes that revisit Cubism’s holistic approach to its subjects.

Learn more about Cubism here and other movements such as Dadaism, Futurism and Surrealism and other avant-garde art movements in the early 20th century.

Experimental filmmaking often overlaps with several of the avant-garde art movements described above. Though typically far less controversial than the most extreme avant-garde efforts, experimental films often confound audiences with their bizarre and boundary-pushing presentation and ideation. Experimental films and the avant-garde movement also sometimes share a penchant for the surreal.

Read more about Surrealism and film here

Portraiture > capturing emotions > tensions > love > tenderness

Collaboration > Interaction > viewer participation

Marina Abramović and Ulay (Frank Uwe Laysiepen) were a collaborative performance duo known for their groundbreaking work in the 1970s and 1980s. After meeting in 1976, the two artists embarked on a twelve-year partnership that produced provocative performances exploring physical endurance, trust, and the artist-audience relationship. Their work together included notable pieces like Rest Energy and Imponderabilia, often testing the limits of their bodies and emotions. In 1988, they ended their relationship with a performance piece titled The Lovers, in which they each walked from opposite ends of the Great Wall of China until they met in the middle to say goodbye. While they pursued separate careers after their separation, their collaborative work continues to be celebrated as seminal in the field of performance art.

The morning that Ulay visited the MoMA, he popped in for a visit with Abramović after 22 years apart. And later on in the day, he surprised her by participating in The Artist is Present. When Abramović opened her eyes to view her next participant and realized it was Ulay, she smiled bashfully. The two former lovers gazed into each others eyes, emotions presumably racing, with Abramović finally reaching across the table to hold his hands. The crowd around them burst into applause and cheers for the reunion of this iconic pair. As Ulay got up and walked away from the table, Abramović wiped tears from her face. The genuinity and emotion of the moment moved audiences around the world and will live on in the hearts of many following his recent passing. To watch their interaction, check out the video below.

For this performance, Abramović and Ulay had their ponytails tied together, sitting back to back for hours on end. They first sat in that position in the museum without anyone else present (except for a photographer who took the odd photo of the status of their joint ponytail,) and once they got to the point where they could take it no longer, they invited museum visitors to view them. They wanted to see if having an audience could push them to stay longer, and succeeded with one extra hour back to back.

Read more here about the story of Marina Abramovic and Ulay

Read more here about Walking as art practice

Richard Long

Hamish Fulton

Finn Larsen: BANE / TRACKS

Joel Sternfeld: Waking the High Line

Mark Power: 26 Different Endings

See also his other projects, Shipping Forecast and Good Morning America.

Michal Iwanowki: Clear of People and Go Home Polish

Martin Toft: INTERVENTIONS – A walk across Europe to Kosovo

INTERVENTIONS was conceived under the influence of war in Europe when NATO decided to intervene in the conflict in the Balkan in 1999. I was watching news bulletins on TV most nights and witnessed both the ethnic cleansing by Milosevic’ troops and the bombing by air by NATO forces. In the guise of a landscape painter (plein air) I began walking through Europe putting myself in the picture as a frontman; my own subjective broadcaster, interpreter and adventurer. I wanted to challenge the artist’s social function and explore people’s perception of art and its possibilities of creating a dialogue for peace. My idiosyncratic performance during 78 days across the European landscape is an inquiry into distance – the journey itself. It is the existence of the journey, and not the essence of the destination. Kosovo is not the subject of my work but a mere stop to my journey. My position is akin to that of a passer-by constantly trying to situate himself in a moving environment. Each intervention is another fragment of the story that is being invented and a challenge to the narrative and economic structure of Western representation.

‘We’re here because we’re here’ was a modern memorial to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, in which around 1500 voluntary participants dressed in First World War uniform appeared unexpectedly in locations across the UK. Commissioned by 14-18 NOW (the UK’s arts programme for the First World War centenary) and created by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller in collaboration with Rufus Norris (Director of the National Theatre), each participant represented an individual soldier who was killed on 1 July 1916. The work was partly inspired by tales of sightings during and after the First World War by people who believed they had seen a dead loved one.

JUXTAPOSITION > UGLY / BEAUTY > COLOUR

Still life has captured the imagination of photographers from the early 19th century to the present day. It is a tradition full of lavish, exotic and sometimes dark arrangements, rich with symbolic depth and meaning.

However, before we begin making images of our objects collected over the summer period we need to learn about how still-life emerged as an independent genre, in particularly during the early 1600s Dutch and Northern European paintings. Many of the objects depicted in these early works are symbolic of religion and morality reflecting on the increasing urbanization of Dutch and Flemish society, which brought with it an emphasis on the home and personal possessions, commerce and trade. Paintings depicting burnt candles, human skulls, dying flowers, fruits and vegetables, broken chalices, jewelry, crowns, watches, mirrors, bottles, glasses, vases etc are symbolic of the transience and brevity of human life, power, beauty and wealth, as well as of the insignificance of all material things and achievements.

Throughout its long history, still life has taken many forms, from the decorative frescoes of antiquity to the high art of the Renaissance. Traditionally, a still life is a collection of inanimate objects arranged as the subject of a composition. Nowadays, a still life can be anything from your latest Instagram latte art to a vase of tulips styled like a Dutch Golden Age painting. Read here for more details about the different categories within still-life paintings such as Fruits, Flowers, Breakfast pieces, Trompe L’Oeil and Vanitas.

Study this exhibition: ART OF ARRANGEMENT: PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE STILL LIFE TRADITION

READ the following two short essay linked with the exhibition above for more understanding of still life in art and photography—with its roots in the vanitas tradition.

Brian Liddy: ‘ART OF ARRANGEMENT’: ON THE SHORTNESS OF LIFE

Roy Exley: ‘ART OF ARRANGEMENT’: STILL LIFE IN THE STILL-LIFE

1. HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Produce a blog post and describe origin and definition of still life as a genre in history of pictorial practice. Read texts above and below to gain an overview of how still-life emerged.

How Artists Have Kept Still-Life Painting Alive Over Thousands of Years

2. ANALYSIS: Select a key painting and comment on the religious, political and allegorical symbolism of food and objects in terms of wealth, status and power, or the lack of.

Lets take a closer look at the painting, Cookmaid with Still Life of Vegetables and Fruit by British painter Sir Nathaniel Bacon.

Listen to curator Tim Batchelor discussing the painting

For further insights into the symbolic meaning of food and objects in still-life paintings, read this text Secret Symbols in Still-Life

ARTISTS REFERENCES > STILL-LIFE / OBJECTS

Emile F. Guiton: Autochromes:The founding father of the Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive was also a very accomplished photographer who experimented with early colour photography in the beginning of the 20th century. Read this essay by Archivist Patrick Cahill on Guiton’s still-life images of flowers in a vase and other domestic scenes using Autochrome – the first commercially available colour process. Produce a blog post that demonstrates your understanding autochrome and its colour process using Guiton’s images as illustrations. 

Emile F. Guiton: Autochromes:The founding father of the Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive was also a very accomplished photographer who experimented with early colour photography in the beginning of the 20th century. Read this essay by Archivist Patrick Cahill on Guiton’s still-life images of flowers in a vase and other domestic scenes using Autochrome – the first commercially available colour process. Produce a blog post that demonstrates your understanding autochrome and its colour process using Guiton’s images as illustrations. 

Klaus Pichler: One Third
According to a UN study, one third of the world’s food goes to waste – the largest part thereof in the industrialized nations of the global north. Equally, 925 million people around the world are threatened by starvation. The series ‚One Third‘ describes the connection between individual wastage of food and globalized food production. Rotting food, arranged into elaborate still lives, portrays an abstract picture of the wastage of food whilst the accompanying texts take a more in depth look at the roots of this issue. ‚One Third‘ goes past the sell by date in order to document the full dimensions of the global food waste.

PHOTOGRAPHY-ASSIGNMENT > OBJECTS

What you must do…

Collect a group of objects that you think combine well. Consider shape and size, colour, texture etc.

For ideas, look carefully at how Mary Ellen Bartley groups, lights and photographs her objects. Aim to create a set of images by altering the layout, lighting, focus, composition etc.

Also photograph individual objects as specimen applying a typology approach, ie. deadpan and uniformly framed and lit in a way that is the same in all images.

EXPERIMENTING > DEVELOPING

PHOTO-SCULPTURE: Print a selection of your images and mount them onto foamboard/ mountboard cut-outs and begin to work analogue with knives/ scissors and glue constructing a 3D photo-sculpture.

Ideas for constructing a photographic sculpture

ARTISTS REFERENCES. As inspiration for your photo-sculpture select at least two artists references as a case study. Explore, discuss, describe and explain key examples of their work relevant to your project and intentions. Follow these steps:

1. Produce a mood board with a selection of images and write an overview of their work, its visual style, meaning and methods. Describe why you have selected to study their work and how it relates to your project.

2. Select at least one key image and analyse in depth using methodology of TECHNICAL>VISUAL>CONTEXTUAL>CONCEPTUAL

3. Incorporate quotes and comments from artist themselves or others (art/ media /film critics, art/ media/ film historians, curators, writers, journalists etc) using a variety of sources such as Youtube, online articles, reviews, text, books etc. Make sure you reference sources and embed links in your blog post.

4. Compare and contrast your chosen artists in terms of similarities and contrasts in their approaches, techniques and outcomes of their work.

3D DESIGN PROCESS: Make sure you produce a blog post that show stages of your experimentation using camera/ phone to document your 3D photo-sculpture as it develops. Make sure you annotate the various processes and techniques that you are using and also describe creative decisions and choices that you make. 

FURTHER EXPERIMENTATION: You can produce more than one photo-sculpture and create an installation of several pieces. Be creative and not afraid to make mistakes, Try out the following:

• Print off a selection of carefully chosen images that you can then paste to either foamboard or mountboard. Then cut and arrange these choices so that you can create a free-standing photo-sculpture (see Lethe Wilson above)
• Print same set of images (or chose a different set) — and then rip, tear, cut-n-paste to create a photo-montage. Re-photograph this and develop the composition into a final outcome using same method as above.
• Layering various sizes of foam board with images and re-create a shape of a rock, or details of granite from geological sites of special interests.
• Construct a organic or geometric shape first out of cardboard/ mountboard and wall paper your 3D sculpture with your own images
• Manipulate images first in Photoshop using various tools and techniques to distort, blur, pixelate, liquify, render, stylise etc before printing and gluing onto your 3D model.
• Consider incorporating other elements such as text, typography, figures, found material.
• For example, add Jerriais words into your photo sculpture – see Other Resources below for ideas
• Consider Jersey myth and storytelling as part of the meaning behind your photo-sculpture

INSTALLATION
3D Photosculpture > 2D image
Upon completion of your 3D sculpture photograph your sculpture as an object experimenting with creative lighting techniques in the studio playing between light and shadows, creating a false sense of scale and size. Produce a blog post with a set of your most successful edited images and annotate.

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The Definitive History of the Soviet Propaganda Poster. Read more here

The Russian avant-garde
A large, influential wave of avant-gardemodern art that flourished in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union, approximately from 1890 to 1930—although some have placed its beginning as early as 1850 and its end as late as 1960. The term covers many separate, but inextricably related, art movements that flourished at the time; namely Suprematism, Constructivism, Russian Futurism, Cubo-Futurism, Zaum and Neo-primitivism. Given that many avant-garde artists involved were born or grew up in what is present day Belarus and Ukraine (including Kazimir Malevich, Aleksandra Ekster, Vladimir Tatlin, Wassily Kandinsky, David Burliuk, Alexander Archipenko), some sources also talk about Ukrainian avant-garde, etc.

The Russian avant-garde reached its creative and popular height in the period between the Russian Revolution of 1917 and 1932, at which point the ideas of the avant-garde clashed with the newly emerged state-sponsored direction of Socialist Realism.

Exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
Covering the period of artistic innovation between 1912 and 1935, A Revolutionary Impulse: The Rise of the Russian Avant-Garde traces the arc of the pioneering avant-garde forms  after Socialist Realism was decreed the sole sanctioned style of art.  The exhibition examines key developments and new modes of abstraction, including Suprematism and Constructivism, as well as avant-garde poetry, film, and photomontage.

Read article here in the New York Times

Russian avant-garde and photomontage

Ai Weiwei’s colored vases: Clever artwork or vandalism? read article here

51 ancient Chinese vases covered with brightly colored paint

Exhibition visitors have expressed feelings of uneasiness or even pain and nostalgia when seeing Colored Vases by Ai Weiwei¹. The 51 vases that make up the artwork are originally treasures from the Neolithic Age (5000–3000 BCE) and the artist has dunked them in common industrial paint.

Why did Ai Weiwei do it?

By doing this, he commented on the devastation caused by the Chinese Cultural Revolution² and the disregard for centuries-old craftsmanship³. By covering the surfaces, the history of the vases is no longer visible but still there, beneath the dried layer of industrial color. Some viewers have felt provoked by this audacious act, in their eyes destroying something rare and precious instead of safeguarding and worshipping it.

Conclusion

Like many other works by Ai Weiwei, he uses irony to challenge viewers’ assumptions and perspectives. As China’s most notorious artist, he finds himself in constant confrontation with the Chinese authorities, and Colored Vases is an essential piece in his rebellious oeuvre.

Sunflower Seeds 2010 consists of millions of individually handcrafted porcelain sunflower seeds. The work has a volume of nearly ten cubic metres, weighing approximately ten tonnes. The artist has stipulated two different configurations for the work. In the first, the seeds are arranged in a continuous rectangular or square field to a depth of ten centimetres. This ‘bed’ of seeds conforms to the dimensions of the display space, with walls confining the work on three sides. Alternatively, the work is presented as a conical sculptural form, approximately five metres in diameter. In this second configuration, there is no containing structure or support for the conical form, which is installed by carefully pouring the seeds from above to form the shape. Any uneven edges can be adjusted by hand at the time of installation.

This work is derived from the Eleventh Unilever Series commission for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall for which Ai created 1-125,000,000 2010, a bed of ceramic sunflower seeds installed across the floor of the space. The Unilever Series commission was the first time Ai Weiwei presented this multitude of sunflower seeds as a continuous rectangular field to create a ‘unique surface’, and the first time he proposed an interactive element, in which the public was invited to walk on the seeds. In the event, after the initial days of the exhibition, it was not possible for viewers to interact with the work by walking on it due to the health risks posed by the resulting dust.

The fabrication of the seeds was carried out in the city of Jingdezhen in northern Jiangxi, a region of China south of Beijing. Historically famous for its kilns and for the production of imperial porcelain, this region is still known for its high quality porcelain production. The sunflower seeds were made by individual craftspeople in a ‘cottage-industry’ setting, rather than in a large-scale factory, using a special kind of stone from a particular mountain in Jingdezhen.

The symbol of the sunflower was ubiquitous during the Cultural Revolution in China in the 1960s and 1970s, and was often used as a visual metaphor for the country’s Communist leader Chairman Mao (1893–1976) and, more importantly perhaps, the whole population. In Sunflower Seeds Ai examines the complex exchanges between the one and the many, the individual and the masses, self and society. Far from being industrially produced, the sunflower seeds are intricately and individually handcrafted, prompting a closer look at the ‘Made in China’ phenomenon commonly associated with cheap mass-produced goods. The myriad sunflower seeds – each unique yet apparently the same – can be seen toevoke the quest for individuality in a rapidly transforming society.

In his proposal for the Unilever Series Commission, Ai commented on the significance of the sunflower seeds:

[In] the times I grew up, it was a common place symbol for The People, the sunflower faces the trajectory of the red sun, so must the masses feel towards their leadership. Handfuls were carried in pockets, to be consumed on all occasions both casual and formal. So much more than a snack, it was the minimal ingredient that constituted the most essential needs and desires. Their empty shells were the ephemeral traces of social activity. The least common denominator for human satisfaction. I wonder what would have happened without them?
(Ai Weiwei, unpublished proposal for Tate Modern Unilever Series, March 2010.)

Ai’s practice is increasingly driven by issues facing contemporary China, such as the exercise of autocratic power, the disappearance of Chinese cultural and material history, and concerns about human rights, hard labour and poverty. Sunflower Seeds explores the complexity of the Chinese individual’s relationship with society, the authorities and tradition.